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Topic: The Future of Star Wars Collecting? (Read 26505 times)

I'd be far, far less interested in the cheap-o figures if they're things I already have a superior version of. I think Jeff mentioned that above, but yeah, I'll second that. Why buy Bespin Luke again when the last Vintage one was so phenomenal? I really just have a hard time wrapping my head around that figure's appreciation among collectors. From sculpt, to poseability, to paint, I thought the last Vinty one was perfect.

As to present day... if it's the same PotJ Ellors Madak repack, then I can see $5-6, but I won't buy it since I already have it. Now, if it's Vintage styled with more PoA (he doesn't need to be SA, but give him some knee articulation) then I'd pay $8-9 for him.

You bring up a good point with this. I think Madak is worth $6 and would continue paying $6 per figure for low articulation as long as the sculpting was good. Madak and the like have far more detail than the Spiderman/Batman crap on the pegs right now. IF the line is moving to both low articulation and crummy sculpts, then it's an easy pass, but I think new characters that still look good will sell even with low articulation.

Look good, yes, but a good toy? I disagree. GI Joe helped put a nail in the Star Wars coffin for good reason. In 1982, that became my life, and because they were just better. Helmets on/off, the visors and headgear attachments, removable packs, and... articulation. They were revolutionary, to me.

That said, I think an Ellors Madak level figure is worth $5 to $6... When I say that I'm talking about the deco, the sculpt, the features (working holster), the details (individually sculpted fingers)... I hear you on the 5 vs. 6 POA Scockery and you're right, though at times I can deal without a waist joint. The OTC AT-AT Driver comes to mind as I believe he doesn't have one and I don't miss it, and he's even an Imperial army builder.

But say they made some guy seen outside on Mos Eisley's streets, Ellors Madak levels of detail and stuff, a working holster, maybe a removable hat or something, a decent (not great, just decent) paintjob... I'd probably be happy to plunk down $6 for that, and a 2nd for custom pieces.

If it came with an accessory of some substance, I'd be even more geeked at the thought.

For $7, $8, or more, it's pure BS. For more money, I want a real action figure, not a statue. Hasbro can't have their cake, and eat it too, and still keep the attention of collectors like myself.

Now if it was the same all around, but the figure was Obi-Wan... Why bother? I have a great old Obi-Wan. I have great young Obi-Wan's out the ying yang. I'm out all together, UNLESS, there is some grand accessory pack-in I'd really REALLY want to pay full price just to get, and chuck the figure into the fodder pile. That's a huge variable though, and not likely. Even if there was something cool, I'd probably wait a little while to see if I could get the figure cheaper. I've found even "rare" stuff cheap at toy shows. Less than retail. It's just how it has always gone.

I'd obviously pay for a new Ellors Madak... $9, $10... I've been paying it for stuff like that. The problem is Hasbro knows kids don't want him that much (if they had long attention spans and dedication to the line, I think they'd want the obscurity, but they don't and so they won't want aliens like WE wanted aliens as kids. It's not a fair comparison between then and now). So now Hasbro's left with the dilemma to put out a $10 soon-to-be pegwarmer, or a $6-ish obscure hardcore collectors figure, but probably would be far happier with the better figure, and where quality paint aps and other details come into play in the minds of these collectors over the kids that now the $6 pricepoint is more appealing to (IE: Parents, who buy for kids obviously).

Or, the $6-ish figures could all be kid-targeted... main characters, heroes, villains, but not the stuff we get geeked about as much. Of course, this line will get verbally tore apart in the forums around the net, but as with Legends and such, it won't be aimed at us, but that rarely matters where forums are concerned.

I think it really matters to me if Hasbro makes figures for kids with a lower pricepoint and articulation, and tries to keep a higher-end figure line going if they can, but not raise the price at this point because price has utterly killed this line in my view. To me it's no surprise the line slowed when the prices went up.

Hasbro's basically doing the exact same thing with vehicles... It's cheaper to make new, simpler, smaller ones to sell for less, than it is to put out larger better ones that maybe appeal to collectors more but which are selling slower and slower to kids because the value just isn't there as the price keeps increasing.

There just isn't a "collector vehicle" sub-line or shorter-run larger ships, with higher pricepoints, for collectors to enjoy. All there is now are the ****** little Class II's.

With figures, it's maybe in the line's best interests for those cheap figures, and even if they aren't up to snuff by our standards and look too much like the cheap Marvel stuff coming or the Batman figures, they may take off and sell well. I have no clue how well Batman did, but with Marvel seemingly looking at similar concepts, I think they maybe feel they did well enough.

If that trend worked, and is being copied by one Hasbro brand, more really when you think about GI Joe and the pack-in driver issue, then I think you'll see it translated by the Star Wars brand in some capacity, at some point.

All this is not even considering that the "premium collector" line could possibly be a relaunch in and of itself as well, to a new 6" format. That, to me, is a desperate grab, but this thing's been waning since 2008/2009, so that's a long time for a line to be slipping on you.

I've been thinking about this lately, and for me, I could take an articulation reduction fairly easily, but not a detail and paint apps reduction. Articulation was never that high a priority for me, since I usually just stick my figures in vanilla poses anyway to take up less space. At this point in the game, all I'm really interested in is getting more Cantina and Jabba goons, and I really don't need any more than Ellors in terms of joints, as long as they look as solid. I do wonder if Hasbro shouldn't look into an online collector line though. If Mattel can keep lines going like that, I don't see why Hasbro couldn't with Star Wars.